On March 12, 2019, the state of Nebraska was struck by a “bomb cyclone” – a storm triggered by a rapid plunge in barometric pressure that is comparable to a category 3 hurricane. It unleashed destructive winds, a crippling blizzard, and heavy rains followed by three days of massive snow, ice, and rain runoff simultaneously impacting several major drainage corridors in central and eastern Nebraska. Flooding forced the evacuations of entire communities and damaged thousands of homes and hundreds of businesses. Ice and water swept away livestock as no fewer than 17 flood records were set in the region, including on the Missouri River. As levees failed, water damaged or destroyed close to 200 miles of highway, nearly 30 state bridges, and scores of county roads. Freakish ice flows in the Niobrara River Valley nearly obliterated everything in their path, including a hydroelectric dam near Spencer. The most widespread natural disaster ever recorded in Nebraska racked up a staggering $2 billion in damage. Post flood, residents of Boyd and Holt Counties, Nebraska were enduring two-hour driving detours, which began March 14 when the historic flooding event washed away 1,000 feet of pavement at the south end of the U.S. Highway 281 bridge on the Niobrara River. This presentation shares the extraordinary effort to design and construct a highway bridge in less than five months – a process that would normally take two years.

Proficiency Level

Advanced

Learning Objectives
  1. Solve for critical bridge design challenges using drone technology, geomorphology, geotechnology, and hydrology to provide assessments for how the flooded conditions of the soil and stream would affect bridge and road design
  2. Perform under pressure and within a compressed timeline
  3. Succeed in designing and building a temporary 600-foot bridge on an accelerated schedule to restore highway traffic as quickly as possible

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